Bedok is an estate within Singapore’s East Region. It is bounded by the Siglap Canal, Marine Parade Road, Still Road, Jalan Eunos, Eunos Link and Airport Road to the west; the Paya Lebar Airport boundary to the north; and Bedok Canal to the east. Bedok sounds like the Malay word for “drum” – a possible reference to its use at the mosque to announce prayer time to the faithful.1
Covering a total area of approximately 2,157 ha, Bedok comprises eight sub-zones, namely Kaki Bukit, Bedok Reservoir, Kembangan, Bedok North, Frankel, Bedok South, Siglap and Bayshore. Constant upgrading and rejuvenation since the 1970s have transformed Bedok into a bustling town.2
History
Bedok is derived from the Malay word for “drum”, which is spelt bedoh with the “h” pronounced like “k”.3 The drum was used in “pre-loudspeaker days” at the mosque to sound out a call to Muslims for prayer time, and to convey to nearby villagers important announcements or messages.4 Bedok could also refer to small fishing boats, called biduk, which used to be found along the coastline.5
Bedok occupies the area designated as Mukim 27. The area was originally known as Tanah Merah Kecil.6 The reference to Bedok River as sune bodo (Sungei Bedok), in de Eredia’s 1604 Map of Singapore, suggests Bedok to be an old place name. The first comprehensive map of Singapore, completed by Franklin and Jackson during the time of Sir Stamford Raffles, also indicates the presence of a river, Sungei Badok, “around the small red cliff”.7 On the outskirts of Bedok, at Jalan Sempadan, is a cemetery where Rhio and Bornean peoples who had settled in the district were buried in pre-Raffles days.8
Development
Under the East Coast Reclamation Scheme Phase 1, part of Bedok was reclaimed in 1966.9 Bedok was also part of the massive development of East Coast announced in August 1971.10 By March 1976, the Housing and Development Board had built 4,600 units of flats in the area.11
By 1994, when the Bedok Development Guide Plan was announced, Bedok was already a popular and established residential area with many leisure facilities. Under this plan, another 16,500 housing units were scheduled to be built to cater to Bedok’s population growth.12
Under the Draft Master Plan 2013 for Bedok, the estate will be revitalised with a new hawker centre and town plaza, as well as an integrated complex comprising a community club, sports facilities, a library and a polyclinic.13 A population trends report, released by the Department of Statistics, revealed Bedok as having the largest number of residents at 294,100, as at 2013.14
Author
Vernon Cornelius-Takahama
References
1. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area: Planning Report (Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority, 1994), 5, 8. (Call no. RSING 711.4095957 SIN)
2. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area, 5, 7; Teo Wan Gek, “Exciting Changes for Bedok, Promises Jaya,” Straits Times, 24 December 2010, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
3. S. Ramachandra, Singapore Landmarks, Past and Present (Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 1961), 5. (Call no. RCLOS 959.57 RAM)
4. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area, 8; Hadijah Rahmat, Kilat Senja: Sejarah Sosial dan Budaya Kampung-Kampung di Singapura (Singapore: HS Yang Publishing, 2005), 133. (Call no. Malay RSING 959.57 HAD)
5. Victor R. Savage and Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2013), 34–35. (Call no. RSING 915.9570014 SAV-[TRA])
6. Hadijah Rahmat,Kilat Senja, 133.
7. Savage and Yeoh, Singapore Street Names, 34–35.
8. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area, 8.
9. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area, 8.
10. William Campbell, “Where 100,000 Will Live and Play on Reclaimed East Coast,” Straits Times, 8 August 1971, 6. (From NewspaperSG)
11. Lulin Reutens, “Bedok: The Birth of a New Town,” New Nation, 6 July 1976, 10–11. (From NewspaperSG)
12. Ann Williams, “Govt to Create Greater Housing Choice with More ‘Prime Districts’,” Straits Times, 31 March 1994, 3 (From NewspaperSG); Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), Bedok Planning Area, 18.
13. “Draft Master Plan 2013: Bedok,” Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore, accessed 26 October 2016; “Bedok Residents to Get Healthcare and Sports Facilities under One Roof,” 27 July 2014. (From Factiva via NLB’s eResources website)
14. “Over Half of 3.84m S’poreans, PRs in 10 Urban Planning Areas,” Today, 27 September 2013, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
The information in this article is valid as at 2013 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
The information on this page and any images that appear here may be used for private research and study purposes only. They may not be copied, altered or amended in any way without first gaining the permission of the copyright holder.
Telok Kurau Road connects Changi Road to Marine Parade Road. Named after a fishing village called Telok Kurau on East Coast Road, the road has been a popular middle-class residential district since the 1960s....
Beaulieu House is located at 117 Beaulieu Road, within the grounds of what is now Sembawang Park. Built sometime in the 1910s, the house was believed to have been owned by a Jewish family by the name of David, before the building and the surrounding land were acquired by the...
Urban planning in Singapore began in the 1820s when Stamford Raffles implemented a land-use plan later known as the Raffles Town Plan. However, for most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Singapore’s physical growth was haphazard and largely unregulated. It was only in the...
The Beach Road Police Station was built by the colonial government in the early 1930s. Part of the expansion plans of the local police force during that period, the station was one of many built in the city area and it had remained operational until 2001. The colonial-style building was...
Development guide plans (DGPs) are detailed short- to medium-term land-use plans completed between 1993 and 1998 as part of a comprehensive review of the Master Plan 1985. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the national land-use planning agency, divided Singapore into 55 planning areas and drew up a DGP for each...
Situated on the eastern fringe of the city centre, Aljunied broadly refers to the areas surrounding Aljunied Road, which connects Geylang Road and MacPherson Road, and Upper Aljunied Road, which extends from the MacPherson Road junction to Upper Serangoon Road....
Katong Park Hotel, one of Singapore's oldest hotels, was located at 46 Meyer Road. Owned by several people since it was built in 1953, the hotel was previously known by three other names: Embassy Hotel, Hotel Ambassador and Duke Hotel. It was renamed Katong Park Hotel in 1992 before it...
The former Asia Insurance Building is located at 2 Finlayson Green. With 18 storeys rising above a double-volume ground floor, it was once the tallest building in Southeast Asia at a height of 270 ft (82 m). Designed by one of Singapore’s pioneer architects, Ng Keng Siang, the office building...
Panglima Prang was a 19th-century Straits Chinese bungalow built by Tan Jiak Kim, a grandson of Tan Kim Seng, one of the early pioneers in Singapore. The house belonged to a generation of bungalows built in the latter half of the 1800s as wealthy Chinese merchants moved into the suburb....
Joseph Aaron Elias (b. 1881, Calcutta, India–d. 16 July 1949, Singapore), also known as Joe Elias, was a successful entrepreneur and well-known personality in Singapore’s Jewish community. He held offices as a justice of peace and municipal commissioner of Singapore. Elias Road and Amber Road were named after his family....